Your View: Every patient deserves professional treatment

I am writing this letter with profound sadness, anger and disappointment as tears fall down my face. As a human being I always want to believe that others who share this walk through life, which for some can be very fleeting, are sincere, honest and kind, most certainly in the most vulnerable of circumstances when medical car...

Comment

By SUSAN LISA FINEBERG

southcoasttoday.com

By SUSAN LISA FINEBERG

Posted Jul. 2, 2013 at 12:01 AM

By SUSAN LISA FINEBERG
Posted Jul. 2, 2013 at 12:01 AM

» Social News

I am writing this letter with profound sadness, anger and disappointment as tears fall down my face. As a human being I always want to believe that others who share this walk through life, which for some can be very fleeting, are sincere, honest and kind, most certainly in the most vulnerable of circumstances when medical care and hospital care are needed. Medical care should not discriminate and a person should not be unfairly and cruelly judged based on their economic status, medical conditions or race, nor should those in the medical field input their personal biases to openly discuss and decide the value of a human life and who is worthy or unworthy to receive proper or life-saving medical care.

Regrettably my recent experience at a Massachusetts hospital as an inpatient was forever marred and has forever emotionally scarred me and has caused a very deep level of mistrust and unfortunate awareness that the people we need to trust the most to help us, who dispense our medicine, give us our shots, etc., people who have our lives in their hands, are bringing their attitudes toward the poor and less fortunate whether financially, mentally or physically into the workplace and feel it's all right to angrily and openly discuss their views at a nurses station within earshot of a patient who happens to be one of the poor they apparently despise.

It is one thing to have an opinion, because every individual on this planet has their own beliefs, whether truly justified, legitimate or not, however when you enter any facility where you have contact with people of all races and different status in society, some wealthy, some poor, some in between, that is when common sense and common decency should be automatic and just helping and understanding the person as a person who has a right to dignity, respect and equal treatment, and right to life-saving medical care should be the main focus and priority, not to so callously discuss what they think an individual has contributed in the world, not even knowing anything about the person.

These same employees who think so negatively about people "like me" should instead appreciate their good fortune and good jobs and their apparently very high opinions of themselves. They should also remember poor doesn't mean less than, it just means one has less, and struggles more to get by day to day, but when as a person one becomes so heartless and shallow that they believe that a poor patient deserves less care than the more affluent patient and doesn't deserve basic kindness, then that employee in my opinion is a danger and liability to the hospital or office where they are employed.

Let me close by saying that from my own personal experience, how someone treats another can make all the difference in the world for the patient and those who care about that person. Sometimes it can make the difference between being on the brink of suicide and feeling hopeless and not caring about what you're doing to yourself that will inevitably land you in an early grave. Sometimes it just takes a doctor saying kind words and giving a simple hug to make you feel like maybe you do matter, to make you survive another day or week or year.

The bottom line is, words can in fact be very hurtful, and hard — if not impossible — to forget when you're trusting the people who are there to help you get better. Remember that patients can hear what you say, and think carefully about what you want them to hear and how it will affect them when all is said and done.

The hospital should not ignore instances like this. It harms a patient mentally and physically, and if the employee feels it's necessary to constantly complain about their job, then that position should be given to a qualified applicant who would appreciate the position.